This was the year I had been waiting for, the reason why I joined up. After having another good annual assessment I decided this was the year I was going to make the application to become an Air Steward. It was also the year I married Jane, so quite a year to remember.
Jane and I were married just outside Shrewsbury in the village of Ford. I had previously said in my optimism that it was unlikely there would be snow, but of course the weatherman had other ideas. My immediate family came up from Windsor and booked into a hotel in the town centre, and I joined them for my last night as a single man. As we were turning in for the night, the heavens opened and overnight several inches of snow fell to cover the country in snow. In more exposed areas it drifted in the high winds that followed. It turned out that several of the guests were unable to travel as the roads were blocked.
We were not going to let a bit of snow to stop the wedding and we gave ourselves plenty of time to get to the church. My brother, who was my Best Man, found a local farmer who had a snow plough on his tractor and paid him £20 to clear the road to the church so that the wedding car could climb the small rise to the entrance. With that taken care of we waited inside for the bride and her father to arrive. The service went ahead and there were enough people present to have witnesses. The Bridesmaids had suitable dresses which gave some protection from the cold, and Jane's dress had long sleeves but she still needed a thick coat to keep her warm.
Afterwards we drove to the nearby village of Alberbury where we had the reception in the village hall.
DRIVING TO THE RECEPTION
The next thing was to spend our first night as a married couple so we had booked into the Long Mynd Hotel in Church Stretton. Due to the excessive snow the, hotel was also cut off as it was on the side of the hill. We phoned them up and told them we wouldn't be able to get there. We then phoned around the local hotels in Shrewsbury to find a room. We eventually found one and booked in. When we got there later that evening we went to our room and found it almost as cold as outside. We got into bed and huddled up close to keep warm.
What a way to start married life, still we had the Honeymoon to look forward. We had booked into a hotel in Kandersteg, to do a bit more skiing, but we were also going to do some site seeing around Switzerland during our week long holiday. But first the small matter of getting to Heathrow Airport. We had planned to drive down the M5 to Worcester then go cross country to join the M40 at Oxford. ( the M40 at that time only went to Oxford ). That plan went out of the window with all the snow. The route over the Cotswolds was closed which ever way you went. This meant we would have to drive down the M5 to Bristol then join the M4 to drive to Windsor where we would leave the car at my parents before taking a taxi to the airport.
We eventually got to my parent's home and after a night there made our way to Heathrow by taxi and checked in. The flight to Zurich was uneventful, but on landing we noticed that there was more snow in England than in Switzerland, which fortunately only lasted a day, after which the snow the UK had recently arrived and dumped several feet of the white stuff overnight.
We took the train from the airport station and eventually arrived at our honeymoon destination, with a short taxi ride took us to our hotel, which would be our home for the next ten days.
Our Hotel for the week
Although we did have a day on the slopes we spent most of the time sight seeing around the small Alpine nation. As I mentioned previously the Swiss railways are noted for their punctuality, but also most towns can be reached by rail. We also ventured into Kandersteg village to enjoy the scenery and buy souvenirs from the local gift shops.
When the sun came out the views were spectacular and certainly made the visit a pleasure, even at minus 20.
The little church beneath the mountains
Typical Swiss Chalets in the snow
We arrived at our destination on the 11th of February, which was just in time for Valentines Day three days later.
Valentines in bed
We got to celebrate several events while on our honeymoon, so as well as Valentines, we had Jane's birthday, and Pancake day. In Switzerland they don't do the pancakes, but call it Mardi Gras and hold processions similar to New Orleans or Rio in Brazil. The difference is that everyone is wrapped up against the cold, but they dress up in fancy costumes, which are often with grotesque masks and have loud marching drum bands walking through the streets. We came across one of these parades while we were sight seeing in Lucerne.
While in Lucerne we also came across a view of a famous wooden bridge across the river,
The Kapellbrücke (literally, Chapel Bridge) is a covered wooden footbridge spanning the river Reuss diagonally in the city of Lucerne in central Switzerland. Named after the nearby St. Peter's Chapel. The bridge is unique in containing a number of interior paintings dating back to the 17th century, although many of them were destroyed along with a larger part of the centuries-old bridge in a 1993 fire. Subsequently restored, the Kapellbrücke is the oldest wooden covered bridge in Europe, as well as the world's oldest surviving truss bridge. It serves as the city's symbol and as one of Switzerland's main tourist attractions.
Another day out involved a visit to the summit of the Jungfraujoch, one of Switzerland's highest peaks if not Europe's. We boarded the train which slowly climbed up the slopes before entering a tunnel that took us to the highest railway station in Europe (At 3,454 metres (11,332 ft) above sea level)
After a slow climb that included a stop at an intermediate station where we got off to walk to a viewing window cut into the side of the mountain. The Jungfrau Railway runs from Kleine Scheidegg in the Bernese Oberland, through the Jungfrau Tunnel (inside the Eiger and Mönch) finally terminating at the summit. After walking along a tunnel we came out side to look at the view and see the observatory .The Sphinx Observatory, one of the highest astronomical observatories in the world, provides an additional viewing platform at a height of 3,572 metres (11,719 ft), the second-highest in Switzerland. It can be reached by an elevator from the Jungfraujoch.
About a month later I put in my application for Air Steward duties. And after a week or so I was ordered to attend the formal interview at RAF Brize Norton at the Head Quarters of 241 OCU, ( the unit that trained all the crews for the flying at the Oxfordshire Airbase).
After the formal interview in front of the board of officers where I explained why I wanted to do the job and they explained some of the detail of the work involved, the candidates were given an opportunity to go on a local flight on a VC10. We were taken to the airside in a bus and made our way up the steps onto the awaiting aircraft.
We were directed to the seats and by the cabin crew and given the preflight safety briefing ( something I would be doing myself in a few months time). After a short taxi we took off and then flew around the Oxfordshire skies doing circuits and bumps, while the flight deck crew carried out various exercises to remain current. We down the back found the flying bumpy at low level and several people ( including me) started to feel a bit sick. I had just started to tuck into the snack box they had given us for our meal. I suddenly felt the urge to be sick, so I left my seat and quickly walked to the toilet, where I filled a sick bag that I took with me.
On returning to my seat, I noticed that some bugger had nicked my lunch box. Obviously the 5 second rule applied here too, ( leave something for more than 5 seconds and it will be removed to a safer place (some one else's bag) .
Circuits and Bumps at Brize
Fortunately this bout of being airsick didn't put me off flying and I finished the day even more determined this was the job I wanted to do. I returned to Portreath and waited a couple of weeks and then I was overjoyed when I received my joining instructions to attend the OCU to start my Air Steward course.
Next time I will talk about the course and what happened next
Rob
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